You’ve had an eventful 6-9 months. How would you describe it?
I’d describe it as a roller coaster. Have had a lot of ups and downs, but that’s my career in general, I guess!.

What were some of the moments that have stuck out to you?
There has actually been a lot of cool moments. The high moments were things like main eventing SummerSlam and winning the WWE title from John Cena. The Occupy RAW moment was really fun and cool to me. I had also joined the Wyatts for a brief spell, about two weeks. When I turned on Bray Wyatt in that cage match…that was a really cool moment as well! I have had a lot of great moments over the past year, those are some of the most fun.

People have compared your clashes with the Authority to the ascension of Stone Cold Steve Austin. How do you feel about those comparisons?
I honestly don’t think they are accurate. There are some similarities, like anyone who has had issues with authority figures in WWE. But I think our attitudes and how we handle things are different. It was a different era when Steve Austin was battling Vince McMahaon. It’s kind of similar, but to me they are way different.

Assuming you get past Triple H, what does potentially main eventing WrestleMania mean to you?
That is what every wrestler who has ever wanted to step in the ring strives for. It’s funny, 3 years ago, I would do radio interviews and people would ask me what my goal is, and it was to main event WrestleMania. People you are talking to are like “Oh, that’s a nice little dream.” But now here it is and it’s within my grasp. That is literally – when you are lying in bed as a 15-year old kid, and you are dreaming of being a wrestler – that is what you are dreaming of. You want to be in the biggest match in the biggest show of the year. With 70,000 plus fans screaming. That’s what everybody wants when they start this.

What is it like having Hulk Hogan around?
The first day he came in that I met him. He came up to me, I said “Hello sir, I’m Daniel Bryan” and he says, “Yeah I know who you are. The “Yes!” thing is awesome.” The little kid in you is saying “Holy cow! Hulk Hogan just said I’m awesome!” So that’s pretty cool. But I haven’t talked to him much beyond that.

What do you think of the Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker match? Can Brock break the streak?
It’s hard. Undertaker at WrestleMania is just a legendary thing. But if anyone can do it, it’s Brock Lesnar. He is just a monster. Just look at his head! I mean it would be a scary head on a normal body, then you put it on his body and it just “Oh my gosh!” I am really interested in seeing that. Brock Lesnar is just a beast, just a monster. If anyone can take out the Undertaker, it’s Brock.